Venezuela and the Myth of Kinder, Gentler Socialism

Supporters of Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaido demonstrate on Feb. 25 in front of the Foreign Ministry in Bogota as he holds a meeting with members of a multinational support group in the framework of the Lima Group to discuss a joint strategy to resolve Venezuela's crisis. (Photo: Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP/Getty Images)

Commentary By

Ben Shapiro is host of "The Ben Shapiro Show" and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is The New York Times best-selling author of "Bullies." He is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, and lives with his wife and two children in Los Angeles.

Venezuela is a socialist country. Venezuela is also a
dictatorship. Currently, Venezuela has fallen into open violence and complete
chaos, with the strongman Nicolas Maduro ordering troops to open fire on those
attempting to bring humanitarian aid into the country.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said in full 9/11 truther mode,
“Democrats need to be careful about a potential trap being set by Trump et
al in Venezuela. Cheering humanitarian convoys sounds like the right thing to
do, but what if it’s not about the aid?”

Fresh face of the Democratic Party Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
D-N.Y., has remained shockingly silent about Venezuela, except to tell The
Daily Caller News Foundation, “I think that, you know, the humanitarian
crisis is extremely concerning but, you know, when we use non-Democratic means
to determine leadership, that’s also concerning, as well.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., another fresh face of the
Democratic Party, grilled U.S. envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams in an obvious
attempt to stall on behalf of a gentler approach to Maduro.

Why the shocking unwillingness by the socialist hard-liners in the Democratic Party to condemn Maduro and join the rest of the world in calling for his ouster?

After all, we’ve been assured by Sanders, AOC, Omar, and others that true socialism isn’t at stake in Venezuela—true socialism can be found in nations like Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Yet even so, these socialist Democrats can’t find it in their hearts to cut ties with Venezuela.

How strange.

Perhaps it’s because Sanders and his crowd understand full well that Venezuela is an excellent case study in socialism—nationalization of major industries by a centralized government, abolition of the profit motive, and redistribution of resources via tyranny.

After all, it wasn’t that long ago that Sanders was praising the Soviet Union (he said it had “a whole variety of programs for young people and cultural programs which go far beyond what we do in this country”), Nicaraguan Sandinista Daniel Ortega, and Cuba’s Fidel Castro (” … he educated their kids, gave their kids health care, totally transformed the society.”).

And then there’s the inconvenient fact that the countries
that Sanders himself calls socialist totally reject the label.

Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt launched into
Sanders this week, stating, “Bernie Sanders was lucky to be able to get to
the Soviet Union in 1988 and praise all its stunning socialist achievements
before the entire system and empire collapsed under the weight of its own
spectacular failures.”

In 2015, Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen scoffed at
Sanders’ dreams of a socialist utopia, noting, “The Nordic model is an
expanded welfare state which provides a high level of security to its citizens,
but it is also a successful market economy with much freedom to pursue your
dreams and life your life as you wish.”

Here is the sad truth about socialism: Socialism drives
economies into the ground in exact proportion to its prominence in the economy.
Capitalism creates prosperity. It’s convenient for Sanders and company to point
to the Nordic countries as models of socialism when they are obviously founded
on free markets, with socialistic redistribution schemes stacked atop that
free-market foundation.

But deep down, Sanders knows that the truer reflection of
socialism lies in Venezuela, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. And that’s why Sanders
simply can’t bring himself to disown Venezuelan socialism, even to prop up the
lie that socialism wasn’t truly tried in Venezuela.

Don’t have time to read the Washington Post or New York Times? Then get The Morning Bell, an early morning edition of the day’s most important political news, conservative commentary and original reporting from a team committed to following the truth no matter where it leads.

Email address

Ever feel like the only difference between the New York Times and Washington Post is the name? We do. Try the Morning Bell and get the day’s most important news and commentary from a team committed to the truth in formats that respect your time…and your intelligence.